Slack adjuster



W. J. SOCKELL SLACK ADJUSTER Jan, 31,1959

Filed June 18, 1948 Inventor o'ffivafielz Attorney Patented Jan. 31, 1950 encase as ewsrea William .J- si i at Raleigh,-

G! Aeetsafivn liens i$s ia1i NQ- 3 75? 4 (01. 741-503 l This invention relates to a novel slack adjuster for brake mechanism of railway rolling stock, particularly freight cars and which is capable of being used in connection with either air or hand brakes to compensate for wear on the brake shoes, brake heads and brake beams.

A primary object of the present invention is to proizide a slack adjuster for accomplishing the aforedescribed results which of extremely simple construction and capable of being readily applied to brake mechanisms of railway cars and by the use of which accurate adjustments of the slack can be accomplishe Another object of the invention is to provide a slack adiustor capable of being readily released for resetting in the event, that the brakes have been set top tight.

An th r an particularly important object of h inv nti n is to provide such a device is, capab of bein adjusted or released wi u the operator bein required to. go, beneath the ar an which be qui k y and easily assems led assem led for repla in a r ken parand which can be very readily applied to or removed from a railway car.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing the slack adjustor in an applied position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2--2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the novel slack adjustor in its entirety is designated generally 5 and includes a bracket 5 having a horizontal flange l which is adapted to be disposed beneath the center sill 8 of a railway car, such as a freight car, not shown, and secured thereto by suitable fastenings such as rivets 9. The bracket 6 is provided with a depending hanger portion or wall in which depends from one edge of the flange l and which is turned outwardly and back upon itself to form a wall H which terminates at its upper, free edge substantially below the level of the upper end of the wall til. The walls 10 and II are connected 2 at their lower ends by an integral bottom portion l 2.

A rack bar, designated generallyl-3 is slidably supported by the bracket 6 between the walls it and t i and on thebottom t2 and extends to sub; stantially beyond both ends of said bracket '6 and is provided at one endthereof with a handle [4 and has an integral-l ey-e 5 at its opposite end. The upper edge of the'intermediate portion of the rack bar it is provided with teeth le all of which face in the same direction and each of which includes a substantially upright shoulder I {which faces toward the eye it, and an inclined opposite edge t8 which faces in the opposite direction.

The walls lit and H are provided with aligned openings it. through which extends a headed pin 2 s. The pin 29; extends loosely through an opens, ofa pawl 21 which is disposed between the racket It and island which extends from. he. til a d ec ion toward the an e end f er slag adjuster bar it. The free nd the tiis adap ed to. en a e etween adjacent teeth is and against one of the upright sides or shoulders ll to prevent the rack bar [3' from sliding from left to right of Figures 1 and 3. A pin 22, corresponding to the pin is is similarly mounted in the walls ill and ii in longitudinally spaced relationship to the pin 26 and at substantially the same level for pivotally supporting a tumbler 23 having a bottom edge portion 2d which normally rests upon a portion of the upper edge of the pawl 2| for holding the free end of said pawl in engagement with. the teeth of the bar l3. The tumbler 23 is also provided with a recessed bottom edge portion 25 into which a portion of the upper edge of the pawl 21 which is located adjacent its free end is movable as said pawl is swung upwardly to permit the free end of the pawl to rise sufficiently to clear the teeth it but for positively limiting the swinging movement of the pawl. The pins 20 and 22 are detachably retained in en agement with the bracket 6 by cotter pins 25. The front wall H is provided with an opening 27 sized to readily accommodate the finger and so that the operator can insert a finger between the teeth l6 and pawl 2! for lifting the free end of the pawl to release the slack adjusting bar 13 so that it can move freely from left to right.

The eye I5 of the bar I3 is connected to the free end of one lever of a conventional railroad car brake mechanism, as indicated at 28, by a clevis 29 which loosely engages the eye 15 and a pin 30 which extends through the legs of the clevis 29 and through said free end of the brake lever and which is retained in an applied position by a cotter pin 3|.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the handle M can be manually grasped for moving the slack adjusting bar l3 from right to left of Figures 1 and 3 for taking up slack in the brake mechanism and when the bar I3 is thus moved the bottom edge of the free end of the pawl 2| will ride over the cam surfaces l8 of the teeth. As previously stated, the pawl 2| can be lifted by inserting a finger through the opening 21 for permitting the bar 13 to move from left to right for increasing the slack or loosening the brakes. The teeth [6 are located sufiiciently close together so that a very accurate adjustment of the slack can be accomplished and in the event that the brakes are set too tight, a very slight movement from right to left of the bar l3 will permit the pawl 2| to be disengaged from the teeth l6 for releasing said bar l3.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A slack adjustor for brake mechanisms of railway cars comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to a car sill, a brake lever actuating slack adjusting bar extending reciprocally through said bracket and supported non-rotatably thereby, said bar being provided with a. longitudinally disposed series of teeth in one surface thereof, said teeth having corresponding shoulders all facing in one direction and inclined cam surfaces all facing in the opposite direction, a pawl pivotally mounted in said bracket and having a free end engaging between adjacent teeth of said bar and against one of said shoulders to retain the bar against movement in the first mentioned direction, and a tumbler pivotally supported by the bracket and engaging on a portion of the upper 4 edge of the pawl for retaining the free end of the pawl in engagement with the teeth of the slack adjusting bar.

2. A slack adjustor as in claim 1, said pawl and tumbler being disposed between spaced, substantially parallel Walls of the bracket, one of said walls being provided with an opening adapted to accommodate the finger for insertion between said teeth and the pawl for lifting the pawl out of engagement with the teeth to permit the adjustor bar to be displaced in said first mentioned direction.

3. A slack adjustor as in claim 1, said tumbler having a pivoted end disposed above the free end of the pawl to limit the upward movement of the pawl and being provided with a recessed portion for accommodating the free end of the pawl when the latter is swung upwardly and out of engagement with said teeth.

1. A slack adjustor as in claim 1, said bar having a handle at its opposite end adapted to be manually grasped for displacing said bar through the bracket in said last mentioned direction, and the free end of the pawl being adapted to ride over the cam surfaces of the teeth during such movement of the slack adjusting bar.

WILLIAM J. SOCKELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 898,416 Watson Sept. 8, 1908 1,681,051 Sauvage Aug. 14, 1928 1,922,988 Templeman Aug. 15, 1933 1,991,261 Sauvage Feb. 12, 1935 2,136,295 Hansen Nov. 8, 1938 2,154,929 Edwards Apr. 18, 1939 2,256,696 Weber Sept. 23, 1941 2,326,377 McBride Aug. 10, 1943 

